Public has right to crude-oil data

New York officials have been caught completely off guard by the number of volatile crude-oil shipments being made throughout New York.

They should not exacerbate the potentially dangerous situation by trying to keep vital information out of the public eye.

With this in mind, the Associated Press and environmental groups are absolutely right to say the New York officials should turn over key details about the rail shipments of crude oil throughout areas of the state, including the Hudson Valley.

They have filed Freedom of Information Law requests with the state Office of Emergency Management, arguing that it's in the public interest for communities to know more about the shipments. Seeing crude oil shipments expand is surely not the most ideal energy policy. But the reality is these shipments are coming and must be heavily monitored.

The public does know that the transportation of volatile crude oil by train and barge has grown dramatically in the last few years, with Albany's port on the Hudson River becoming a major hub for such shipments.

The public also knows there already have been several derailments in New York, including one on CSX's River Line near Kingston, and so far the state should consider itself lucky that a catastrophic disaster hasn't occurred. Much of these crude-oil shipments are coming from the northwest and Canada, and industry is seeking to expand these operations, including in New York.

But the public doesn't know the exact extent of these operations.

While last month New York officials began receiving weekly information about the shipments, CSX has requested the movements of its freight trains carrying crude oil across the state be kept secret, citing security concerns.

That's nonsense. For starters, officials in other states, such as North Dakota and California, have released information on oil trains in response to requests from The Associated Press.

For another, people already know, or can easily ascertain, what routes are being used, including the tracks on the western shore of the Hudson River.

But getting a better handle on the number will help the public ascertain just exactly how well, or how poorly, state officials are meeting the challenges of ensuring ample emergency-response protocols are in place in the event of a disaster.

Too much is at stake for such secrecy, and the state didn't help matters by virtually ignoring the problem at first, only to be pressured by the public to take these matters far more seriously. The public does have a right to know about the extent of these shipments, key information to make better assessments about the dangers and what the state and industry are doing, and need to do, to mitigate them.

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PAUSE is a grassroots group of individuals who have come together to promote safe, sustainable energy and fight for environmental justice. We engage the greater public to stop the fossil fuel industry’s assault on the people of Albany and our environment.